Informer: Shingles vaccine available at various places

Where can you get a shingles vaccine? My doctor tells me I can get it at a drugstore, but due to my prescription plan, I have to get my prescriptions at a pharmacy that isn’t certified to give the vaccine. Can you help?

Sure can.

According to a database maintained by Merck, maker of the vaccine, called Zostavax, the shot is available at area Walgreens,

Kroger, Albertsons and Rite Aid pharmacies, along with Kmart and Fred’s Pharmacy.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people age 60 and older should receive the vaccine — a one-time shot

that can prevent an outbreak of shingles, which is caused by the virus that causes chickenpox.

The virus, called varicella zoster,

lies dormant in the nervous systems of people who have had chickenpox

and is later reactivated,

causing a painful rash.

People who have shingles can pass the virus along to others, who — if they haven’t already had it — can develop chickenpox.

But shingles itself isn’t contagious.

“A shingles rash usually appears on one side of the face or body and lasts from 2 to 4 weeks,” reads a CDC fact sheet. “Its

main symptom is pain, which can be quite severe. Other symptoms of shingles can include fever, headache, chills and upset

stomach.”

The name “shingles” comes from

“cingulum,” the Latin for “belt” — a reference to the rash’s

characteristic banding of the

chest. The virus’s scientific name joins the Latin “varicella,” or

“little pox,” with the Greek “zoster,” or “belt” or “girdle.”

People who shouldn’t receive the vaccine, according to the CDC:

Those who’ve had “a life-threatening or severe allergic reaction to gelatin, the antibiotic neomycin, or any other component

of shingles vaccine.”

People with immune systems weakened by disease, drug treatment, or radiation and chemotherapy.

The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by Andrew Perzo, an American Press staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098, press 5 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com